Wakf-Board claims Taj Mahal. Show Shah Jahan's signature, says SC
The Wakf Board, which is embroiled in a battle over the disputed Ayodhya land, is also in the middle of an ownership fight for another object of interest: the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan himself handed over the 17th century monument to them, it claims. But the frustrated SC is having none of it: show us the papers with his signature, the court has ordered.
The bizarre fight for ownership of the Taj
The fight for ownership of the Taj started in the 1990s, when one Mohammad Bedar, apparently a Mughal descendant, moved court seeking to be declared caretaker of the monument. The Allahabad HC asked him to approach the Wakf Board, which went ahead and ordered for it to be registered as Wakf property. 'Wakf' is an endowment of land/property by a Muslim for charitable purposes.
'Shah Jahan was in jail. How did he sign documents?'
Lashing out at the Board's contention that Shah Jahan had handed over the Taj to them, the SC retorted, "Who in India will accept that the Taj Mahal belongs to the Wakf Board?" "Shah Jahan was in jail. He was looking at the Taj," CJI Dipak Misra scoffed. "I want to see Shah Jahan's handwriting, his signature if there's any such document."
So who actually owns the Taj?
When did the Board get the monument anyway, the SC wondered. "For 250 years (the British) were in possession. After that it passed to the Center," Misra noted. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the other party in the case, echoed his views. With the 1948 act, buildings owned by the British were taken over by the Indian government, it said. Now ASI is in charge of administration.
The Board has a week to produce Shah Jahan's signature
The Wakf Board had sought time to produce books and other historical exhibits to prove its point, but the SC is adamant about primary documents signed by the emperor himself. The Board has got a week to produce it, if it can.
